The Survivor
by Hikaru Hayashi
Summary: After just barely escaping captivity, Jounouchi has to cross rugged but beautiful mountain terrain, but with a terribly sick Varon as a travel partner. Can Jou make it back in time to save Varon, and with a crazed Raphael chasing them down? R&RCH.5
1. Kidnapped

By Hikaru Hayashi

Story from _Yu-Gi-Oh!_

Hey there. I was bored and just happened to be thinking about the new season of Yu-Gi-Oh. I've seen almost the whole season in Japanese, and unless you have too, you won't get this fic for a while. This was a random idea that just popped into my head that has nothing to do with the show, but some of the characters are from this season. And I just happened to be at the computer, so here it is!

Summary: Katsuya Jounouchi is on his way home from school, when he is kidnapped by thugs belonging to an underground gang. When he escapes the clutches of his captors and falls down a cliff, he realizes he's in the middle of the mountains, far from civilization. Can he find his way home in time to save his new friend and traveling partner, who is suffering the ravages of a terrible sickness?

Disclaimer note: The characters in this fic belong to the impressively talented Mr. Kazuki Takahashi (he has to be to draw some of those people...). I don't own anything!

For those who actually care: I have a problem with anonymous reviewers flaming _Kokoro no Seto_ for no reason! I know it's not that bad, but I've heard from two people that "Sophia" is a Mary-Sue. I have no clue what that means! Honestly. Maybe I should discontinue it. Getting two mean reviews is depressing, and I'm having a lot of fun with that fic. And I don't know how to take them down.

With that, let's begin! (I'm sorry if the title sucks)

The Survivor 

Chapter 1: Kidnapped

As if his day weren't bad enough, Katsuya Jounouchi found himself being tossed into the back of a black van. His day couldn't have gotten worse. He had been chased halfway to school by a rabid dog, mugged by bullies for the first time in months, had his lunch money stolen, failed a Biology exam, and now he was being kidnapped.

He hadn't seen the van coming up to him. He was on his miserable way home from school, when big bulky bodyguard-looking man with sunglasses stepped out of the vehicle and beat Jou on the head with a club. Then he tied him up, gagged his mouth so he couldn't talk, blindfolded him, and threw him in the back of his ugly van.

This is where we are now. _Great! _Jou thought. _Just my luck! Man, why do I always gotta end up in this crap? _ It frightened him that he had no clue what these guys wanted with him, let alone where they were taking him. And being blindfolded certainly didn't help.

It seemed as though they were driving for hours. Jou was relieved when he felt the van come to a stop. He heard the doors open and the husky voice of his captor, "Alright, ya little runt. We're here!" He removed the blindfold from Jou's eyes.

Jou spit the gag out of his mouth. "Why you joik!" he cried. "Awright! Who are you? And whaddya want wid me, huh? C'mon, spill it!"

"I'm sorry," the bulky man said as he picked Jou up and carried him on his shoulders. "I can't give away that information, Katsuya Jounouchi."

_Whaa??_ Jou thought, startled. _How does he know my name?! This is weird..._

The man walked into what looked like an ordinary abandoned warehouse. He pushed a button and the door opened. Jou looked around. _Hmph...place looks empty ta me. What gives? _

The man carrying Jono walked into an elevator and pushed a button signaling to go down.

The elevator came to a jolting stop. The man walked out of the elevator. Jou looked around. It seemed as though they were in a hideout of some sort. There were boxes stacked on top of each other. The place was covered with thugs. In the back, there was a door that looked like led to somewhere he didn't want to go. _Uh, I don' think I wanna find out what's behind that door,_ he thought.

"Hey, whatcha got there, man?" said one of the bulky guy's comrades.

"A special guest." The man replied simply. He then said to Jou, "My boss wants to see you later. For now, you go in here." He walked through the creepy looking door.

_I was afraid of this! _Thought Jou as he began to panic. "Oh, I oughta..." he growled as he looked up and got a good look at his kidnapper. "Why, you're...!" he stuttered as his bulky captor looked at him.

"Hi." The man replied. He threw Jou into what seemed to be a dungeon cell.

_Ring, ring! _ Came the loud phone ring. "Hold your horses, I'm coming!" said a voice. Sugoroku Mutoh, Yugi Mutoh's grandfather, walked downstairs and answered the phone. "Hello, this is the Kame Game Shop! May I help you?...Oh, good evening, Mrs. Jounouchi! How's your family doing?...What?! Well, that's terrible!...Uh, no, he's not over here...Oh. Well, alright, I'll send Yugi right over...uh-huh...bye."

At this moment, Yugi walked downstairs. "Grandpa," he said, "who was that?"

He looked towards his grandson. "Yugi! It's terrible! It seems Jounouchi never made it home from school today!"

"What?!" Yugi replied in shock.

Yugi ran through the door. Jou's mother was waiting for him. "Yugi!" she cried. "Thank goodness you came!"

"No problem," Yugi replied. "What's this about Jounouchi not coming home?"

"I don't know. We didn't hear from him and..." Jou's mother broke down crying.

Yugi walked into the living room to see that Anzu and Honda were already there.

"Yugi, did you hear?" Anzu said. "Jounouchi didn't come home after school! Shizuka was really worried."

"But **I **cheered her up," Honda said. (He always did like to flirt with Shizuka. This gave him the perfect excuse.)

"Yugi?" Shizuka asked. "You will find my brother, won't you?"

"Of course I will, Shizuka," Yugi said.

"And I'll help!" Honda added.

"We'll all do it!" Anzu chimed in. "We're a team!"

"Right! No way we're leaving Jou out there by himself!"

"We'll get your brother home safely. I promise. So don't cry, Shizuka!"

Shizuka smiled, despite the fact that there were tears in her eyes. "I know you'll find him!" she said, hopefully.

Jounouchi slowly stood up. He had managed to untie himself, but that was the least of his problems. The cell he was in was dark and he couldn't see what was around him. Was he the only one there? Was someone else with him? What time was it? Will he ever get out alive? When would be the next time he had a decent meal?! These questions rushed through Jou's mind as he tried to scan his surroundings, but to no avail. Jou growled. _Nnn! Crap. I can't see a thing! _He thought. He walked over toward what he thought was the direction of the cell door. A small light pierced the darkness, the light from the outside. There were no windows.

As he walked towards the light, he felt something under his feet and heard a moan. "Whaa?!" Jou shouted in surprise as he stumbled to the ground, startled by the moan. _I think I stepped on something, _he thought. _Or someone..._ He looked around. As his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, he thought he saw the figure of another person.

The other boy was lying on the ground and he didn't look too good. He had spiky hair. The boy looked up, his crystal eyes shone in the darkness. "Jounouchi...?" he asked, his voice sounding weak and raspy. "Is that you?"

Jounouchi was shocked when he discovered who his cellmate was. "No, it can't be!" He gasped. "It's...Varon??"

The boy called Varon attempted to stand up. "Jounouchi! It is you, isn't it? Jounouchi! You...you don't know how happy--"

Jou heard the boy stumble over in the darkness and begin coughing. "Whoa...that's a nasty cough," Jou mumbled as he went over to where Varon was. He put his hand on his forehead. "Geez, man! Yer burnin' up! How long have they kept you here?"

Varon looked up weakly. Sweat was dripping from his face. "Uh...about three weeks," he replied, exhausted from coughing. "I've been sick like this for about two days. I thought I'd be better by now but—"The coughing began again.

_They musta kidnapped him too! _ Jou thought. "Man, I haven't seen you since you were one of Dartz's Doom warriors and you tried to steal my soul," he said, mainly to himself. "I wish we could catch up, but I gotta get you outta here!" He grabbed Varon's arm and helped him stand up. He walked towards the door and looked out of the opening. He could see the thugs that his captor worked for. The man that kidnapped him was guarding the door. _Aw, man! _ Jou thought. _It's that buff guy again. No way we're gettin' past him! _Jou beat the door with his fist, only to find that it opened a crack. "Whaa?" he cried, but then muffled his voice to keep from screaming. _They leave the door open? _Jou thought. _Then why hasn't Varon escaped already? Nnn...I smell somethin' fishy...ah, wutevah. I'm gettin' outta here. _Jou started to open the door.

"Jounouchi, don't do it!" Came Varon's raspy voice.

Jounouchi looked down at him, confused. "Huh?!"

"It may seem easy to escape, but I've tried it! They'll beat you to a pulp and throw you back in." More coughing. "The...::gasp:: the only reason they keep the door open is because those morons don't have a key to lock us in."

"But what do they want wit us?" Jou asked. "And why does that buff dude look so familiar? Wasn't he with you and the Doom organization?"

Varon was silent. The only thing Jou heard for about a minute was his labored breathing. Finally, Varon spoke, "I don't think he would do this. That can't really be Rafael. This has to be a coincidence." (A/N: For those who have seen those episodes in Japanese, his name is Rafael, right? In the Japanese version, they seem to pronounce it "Raferu". Hmm, confusing.)

"I thought so," Jou muttered to himself. _I remember now. Rafael is that thug who took Yugi's soul away! Freak. _ "Well, in any case, I hope yer ready to run."

"Wait, Jounouchi!" Varon said. "Why are you helping me? You're not still mad at me for trying to take your soul? What about that thing with Mai?"

"That's ancient history," Jou replied. "Besides, you're really sick. I gotta get you to a doctor." Jou picked up a piece of wood and threw it in Rafael's direction.

"What the?" Rafael shouted. The bulky blonde haired man walked towards the direction the wood chunk came from.

"Yeah, that's right!" Jou snickered, happy that Rafael had fallen for his trap. As soon as he was in range, Jou landed a hard, quick blow upon Rafael's head, leaving him unconscious. "Okay! Now!" Jou replied as he and Varon started to make their escape.

"I can't belive you just punched out Rafael!" Varon said, amazed.

"I know! I amaze even myself sometimes," Jou replied before looking back to see hordes of thugs chasing after them.

"Stop them! Don't let them escape!" came a shout from a random thug.

"Aiiiiiiiiiiieeee!" Jou cried upon seeing hundreds of macho guys chasing after him. He was, after all, only a skinny little high school boy; as strong as he was, he couldn't take them all on at once. His only option was to keep running. He ran out of the warehouse and down the road, those thugs hot on his heels. He noticed the surrounding area wasn't familiar. "What da heck!" he shouted as he noticed they seemed to be in the mountains somewhere. "We're never gonna get back—"

"Jounouchi! Wait!" Came Varon's weak cry.

Jounouchi looked back. Varon was lagging behind, panting and struggling to keep up. _Crud. With his illness, he's only gonna slow us down. At this rate, we'll be captured again! _Jou ran back to him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him along. "Hang in there, man!" Jou said to him. "I'm not gonna have you dyin' on me! Just hold on!"

Those thugs were inching closer and closer to them. _Shoot! They're gainin' on us! _Jou thought, panicked. He looked up to see a big buff macho figure blocking their way. "Wah! No way you can be conscioius!"

"Hi." Said the burly man blocking their way.

Varon looked up. "R-Rafael! It's-it's me, Varon! Why are you doing this, Rafael?!" he stammered.

"Uh, Varon, I don't think he's gonna answer you," Jou replied.

Rafael chuckled. "Die." He said simply. Then he waved one of his big burly arms, knocking them off of the cliff they were standing on.

End Chapter One

Like I said, this was a random idea that popped into my head for no apparent reason. (Stinkin' 4Kids changed Varon to "Valon". I hate that!) The part with Shizuka had no relevance to the story, but I felt it was necessary. Also, Jou seems to live with his mother in this fic. Is there a problem with that? Well, that's chapter one. Comments? Questions? Say so in your review. Remember, No Flames Allowed! And please, if you come up with a better title, let me know! I'll even give you credit for the title. So long! Ja ne!


	2. Enchanted Forest

By Hikaru Hayashi

I don't know why I discontinued this. Going back and re-reading the chapter one, I thought "why did I stop writing that?" No time because of school and crap. My bad. Anyhow, here's chapter two. Remember, no likey, no reviewey, no flamey. Likey, reveiwey, pleasy! Reviews always welcome.

Disclaimer note: I don't own anybody from Yu-Gi-Oh! I don't own Jou, I don't own Raphael, and I don't own Varon! So there!

Chapter 2: Enchanted Forest 

Jounouchi opened his eyes. He had no idea how long he had been out. It could have been minutes, or even hours; it was almost dark now. The sun was barely visible from behind the trees. "Uggh…my head…" he moaned. "Wha…what happened?" he asked himself as he sat up. Then he remembered…

Being chased by mobs of thugs, he and Varon ran for their lives, when they had run smack into Raphael.

"_Hi." He said simply. _

_Varon, who was terribly ill, shouted between coughs, "Raphael! It's me Varon! Why are you doing this, Raphael?" _

_Raphael snickered. _

"_Uh, Varon," Jou began. "I don't think he's gonna answer you."_

_Raphael chuckled. "Die." He said as he knocked the two boys off of the cliff._

"Yeah!" Jou said as his memory came back to him. "I remember now! Agh! That joik! Speaking of…" Jou began looking around. "Varon! Where are you? Say somethin', man! Holler if you can hear me!" Then he remembered how ill Varon was. "Scratch that…_cough _if you can hear me!"

Jou stood still and listened. For a while, all he heard was the rushing of the nearby waterfall. The scenery was so peaceful. He thought that if he ever got out of this mess, he would build himself a summer retreat in the mountains for his kids, or something like that. He was so lost in his daydream that he was startled by a raspy weak-sounding cough.

"Oh, yeah! That's right!" he said as he followed the sound of the coughing. He found Varon lying by the riverbank farther downstream. _There you are…_ he thought, relieved, as he walked over to him.

Varon looked worse than he did a while ago. He was very pale and seemed to have great difficulty breathing.

"Hey, Varon, you awright, buddy?" Jou asked as he knelt down beside him and felt his forehead. Almost instantaneously, he jerked his hand back. "Ow! My god, he's burning up!" he shouted. _That ain't good…! _Jou thought as he stood up and walked over to the nearby steam. _If I don't get him back soon, he could be in serious trouble…he might even die! Well, even though he was a mega joik, that's all in the past. I'm not lettin' that happen! _

He took a lace handkerchief out of his pocket and dipped it in the stream. His good friend Mai Kujaku had given the handkerchief to him. (A/N: Think back to the Duelist Kingdom semi-finals) _Mai would want him to get better, too,_ he thought as he wrung out the excess water. He walked back over to Varon and wiped the cold sweat from his face.

Varon moaned. He sounded as though he was in a lot of pain. Between labored breaths, he managed a single word: _"Mai…"_

Jou flinched. _Crud…_ he thought as a shocking realization came to him: Varon was still in love with Mai Kujaku. This disturbed him; Jou also had feelings for Mai, but, of course, he was too macho to come straight out and tell her. This meant that he and Varon were still rivals in love.

Jounouchi knew that sooner or later, a time would come where Mai would have to choose one of them, and Jou would rather it be him, and without any competition. Of course, he also knew darn well that he couldn't just let Varon die, either.

_I don' have time to be thinkin' about this…_ Jou decided as he wrapped Varon's arm around his shoulder, pulling him off of the ground. _I'd love to rest, but we don't have time for that! I know it's almost dark, but we have to cover as much ground as possible. We have to get home quickly! _

He made a reckless decision and ran through the dark woods, carrying Varon on his back. He knew it was dangerous to go scampering through the woods at night, but this was a race against time. Every second was crucial.

Of course, in his hurry, he didn't see the tree…

By the time Jounouchi regained consciousness it was daylight. It was the crack of dawn, but daylight nonetheless. _Whaa…! I slept for THAT long! _He thought, jolting up. _Nnn! Stupid tree…!…Oh, crap! I forgot about Varon! _

He stood up and looked around. The forest looked even scarier in the daylight than it did at night. The golden sunlight crept over the tops of the trees and illuminated the yellow and blue morning sky. He could still hear the trickling of the stream they were by just last night. He could even smell the water.

Jou chuckled. It would take a crazy scenario like this for him to actually appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature. Here he was, running for his life, and he was enjoying the scenery. He felt as though he and Varon were playing the roles of characters in a fairytale, lost in an enchanted forest.

Then again, he thought, he didn't see much of the world outside his bedroom, and the only adventures he really had were through his video games, that is, of course, when he's not helping Yugi save the world. (A/N: Or getting in his way, depending upon your point of view)

After standing in that spot for a good ten minutes and taking in the surroundings, he picked Varon back up and started to move on (walking this time so as not to run into anything, but quickly). He walked for a while, and while he was walking, he ran across a bush with a kind of flower growing on it that he had never seen before.

"This is beautiful…" he said as he picked one of the violet and white flowers from the bush. It reminded him of the color of Mai's eyes. He sniffed the flower's entrancing aroma. It even smelled like Mai's perfume. As though struck by lightning, he shook his head. _Aah…what am I doin'? I don't have time to stop and smell the flowers! _

Even so, he pocketed the violet flower before he went on. Every aspect of that flower reminded him of Mai, and gave him an incentive to carry on.

Jou was surprised and relieved to run into another stream. He was just thinking about how thirsty he was just as he came across it. _Oh boy, is this my lucky day! _ he thought as he fell to his knees and began to greedily slurp up the clear water. It tasted like no other kind of water; it was the cleanest, freshest-tasting water he ever drank.

He scooped up some water in the palm of his hand and put it to Varon's mouth. _Heh…poor Varon…_Jou thought. _He's missin' out on the wonderful scenery! _He immediately felt like an idiot. Varon's life was in danger, and all he could think about was the scenery. He knocked himself on the head. _Ack! C'mon, Jono! Get a grip on yehself! Geh! _

He dipped the handkerchief from before into the stream. _I think we'll rest here for now…_he thought as he placed the damp handkerchief on Varon's forehead.

As he was filling up his water bottle, which he remembered was conveniently settled in his back pocket, it hit him. He had solved their water problem, but what was he going to do about food? He was starting to get hungry.

He had decided not to worry about it…surprisingly, he wasn't worried about anything because of the effects of the peaceful scenery…he didn't even notice the shadow of a large muscular figure looming over them…

End Chapter Two

Heh, heh…I just had to end it there, huh? Guess what now? That's right! You must review! Ja ne!


	3. Run For Your Life!

By Hikaru Hayashi

(I didn't think it would take so long for me to get this up…ack!)

Wow! I mean, like, WOW! So many people reviewed this one! I didn't think anyone else would review this. Thanks a lot!

Antibaseball: I'm so glad you liked my fic. And I'll keep reading yours too! You are a very funny writer, ne? Good job on all of yours!

Jien: I'm happy you liked my fic too. I'm also happy that you were so ecstatic that I spelled Varon's name right (Good! You should be! I hate dubbing). But, you like the JouxVaron couple? Yech! That surprised me quite a bit... (I don't like yaoi all that much…at all…) But, I'm just glad you like it so far.

pearheart: Hey, girl. Thanks for the review. It surprised me that you reviewed this one of all my fics, but thanks a lot anyway!

Disclaimer note: I don't know how many times I've had to say it between this one, and my other five YGO fics! I don't own it!

Chapter 3: Run For Your Life!

Jounouchi was startled by the sudden darkness around him. "Hm? What in the..! What d'heck is goin' on, here? Is there an eclipse or somethin'?"

He swirled around and looked up. An enormously large and buff figure blocked the sun. He had blonde hair and was wearing dark sunglasses.

"Hi," he said.

Jou gasped. _"RAPHAEL!" _he shouted as he jumped up and stumbled backward.

Raphael cackled evilly. "You never cease to amaze me, Jounouchi Katsuya. I thought you were dead."

"Yeah? Well, ya thought wrong. I won't die so easily!" Jou shouted as he backed up toward a rock that was conveniently sitting on top of a boulder.

"Yeah, I figured." Raphael said casually as he walked towards Jou, kicking Varon out of the way. He chucked softly, yet maniacally as Varon rolled into the stream.

He moaned. _"That hurts…" _he stammered before going into a fit of coughing.

Jou burned with anger. _Awright, that's it! _ he thought as his fist wrapped around the stone. _You don't just hurt a sick person like that! There ain't no way he's getting away wit that one! _

"You do realize, however," Raphael began with a smug tone in his voice as he continued towards Jou. "That you can't get very far with that Varon around. He's only slowing you down. You should just fend for yourself and leave him to die; it's every man for himself out here, you know. But, this is the end of the line for you anyway, so…" He pulled his fist back and prepared to deliver a punch.

"Well, I'm a slow learner!" Jou replied. "And you'll find out very quickly that I'm very persistent!" He quickly pulled the rock from behind him and smashed it into Raphael's forehead, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

_Wow! Another fluke…_ Jou thought as he ran to the stream and picked Varon up. _We gotta bail the heck outta here before that guy wakes up! _Jou dashed off as fast as he could. He heard voices behind him from where they just were. "Aw crap," Jou muttered. "He wasn't alone…his little friends are gonna come after me! I gotta book it!" He picked up the pace until he was pretty much at a sprinting speed.

"There he is…get him…." came a voice from far behind him. Jou heard the voices, but didn't look back. He knew that would only slow him down.

Ah! Stupid punks…why da' heck are they after me? What did I do to deserve this!

Footsteps…running…quite a ways behind him, but he could still hear them…they were catching up fast…

_Gotta run…can't let 'em catch me…! Gotta get home fast…Varon's life depends on it! **MY** life depends on it! _

He tried to pick up the pace…but he was getting tired quickly and carrying Varon on his back didn't help the matter much either.

Can't…stop…running…! Why! Why are they after me? I hope I haven't unknowingly pissed off some mega huge crime lord recently…what da' heck do these creeps want wit me?

He heard the voices again: "Get them. Don't let either of them escape…we need 'em both!"

What…? Now I'm really confused!…yeah, that's right…Varon was in that cell for quite a while before I came and busted him out…but what do they want with us…? …I don' got time to be thinkin' about that right now! I just need to find a way to lose these suckers! And fast! C'mon, think, Jono! Think! Argh!

Poor Jounouchi. He never really was good at thinking, and now, when he needed to the most…

However, that cave might help him hide out for a bit. Sure, he didn't like caves all that much…since that stupid bear incident…and later at Duelist Kingdom with that freak Bonz…(A/N: About the bear…long story! See the Second Chapter of _Point of View _if you're interested

But, still…if he could just reach it…it was quite a ways away. And he was running out of stamina and could pretty much collapse at any moment. _It's what I get for sprintin' at the beginning, _he thought. _But I had to, or those creeps were gonna get me! Well, it's now or never! I'm goin' for it! CHARGE! _

With very accurate but sloppy timing, he dove for the cave, landing on his stomach in a belly-flop position and sending Varon flying off of his back.

"_Oof!" _He grunted. Varon moaned.

"Ah! Whew!" he screamed loudly. "Dang! That was close…Whoops!" he said as he quickly covered his mouth.

"There! He went that-a-way, Raphael!" came an unknown voice.

"Well, don't just stand there, you imbeciles! Find them!" came Raphael's voice. Dang, that man recuperates fast. Jou had knocked him out twice in two days, and both times, he came to within a matter of five minutes.

As soon as he was sure they had passed him up, Jou let out a huge sigh and flopped on his back in exhaustion. Sweat flew from his face. "Oh…man!" he panted, out of breath from running so much. "I've had just about enough a' this crap! How 'bout you, buddy…?"

He turned to Varon, who simply moaned.

"Yeah…" Jou muttered. "Yer tellin' me…" Silence. "Tell me about it…." Jou said after a while, apparently to himself. "Absolutely ridiculous. I mean, what do these creeps want wit us, eh!"

"…_J-Jou-no-uchi…" _Varon gasped weakly. _"I…I…miss…Mai…" _

"Yeah…." Jou replied as he sat up. "I miss her too. Y'know, I understand yer sick an' all, but ya gotta speak up every once in a while. I was beginnin' ta think you'd died over there!"

Varon chuckled. "Yeah…sorry about that…!" he said in a raspy voice.

"Yer laughin'!" Jou growled in frustration. "This ain't no joke, man! I'm serious (fer once)."

Varon chuckled again. "I'm sorry…Jounouchi!" he said, smiling.

He's laughing…that's real funny considering he's the one who's all sick and stuff…I really don't wanna stay in this cave…but until Raphael and his goons let up, we really don't have much of a choice! Aw man…if only Yugi were here right now…he'd know what to do…I just know he would…

Meanwhile… 

Honda hopped off of his motorcycle and knocked on the door to Yugi's place.

The door opened. Yugi was relieved to see his friend. "Oh…hey Honda. Any luck finding Jounouchi?"

"No…" Honda replied. "Bakura and I searched everywhere. The police haven't found him either. Shizuka and her mom are really worried that something may have happened to him. Even Mai's worried about him!"

"I'm worried too…" Yugi said. "After school, Yami and I checked all his usual hang-out places…what could have happened to him, Honda?"

"I have no idea, but I don't like it."

"I don't know what to do…for once…I just don't know what to do…! I just know that we have to find him! We must!"

"You could try asking your friend Otogi to help out," came the voice of Yugi's grandfather from the other room.

"No good…" Honda replied. "Otogi hasn't even seen him recently, so strike that idea. And we can just straight out forget about Kaiba helping us!"

"I wouldn't say that, Honda!" Yugi said as he grabbed his jacked and ran out the door.

"Wait, Yugi!" Honda shouted after him.

As Yugi ran, a voice spoke to him. _Aibou…where are we going? _

_We're going to Kaiba's place, Yami! _ Yugi replied to his alter ego, Yami, the spirit that lived in his Millennium Puzzle. _If anybody can help us find Jounouchi, it's Kaiba. _

_That may be so…_ Yami started, _but Honda's right. Kaiba's not going to help us! He hates Jounouchi's guts! _

_We have to try, Yami! It may be our only hope! _

Yami sighed. _You're right, Aibou…_

The short spiky-haired high-school boy and his "yami" ran to Kaiba's place, unaware of the real danger that Jounouchi was in…

Because at that very moment…somewhere deep in the mountains, miles from Domino City, a huge figure approached Jou and Varon's hiding place.

"Heh ha…gotcha…!" the deep voice said.

_Aw, crap…_Jou thought. _We spent all day in this cave…and I think that joik found out where we were hiding…crap…crap…! _

A shadow blocked the evening light from entering the cave. Jou looked up, hoping to see something other than what he was expecting. A tall figure was standing in front of the cave, apparently staring straight at them. "Hi," he said simply.

_Oh no…_ Jou thought, hiding his fear. _It's him…_

Varon crawled into a corner, hoping he wasn't seen.

"That's right. I see you, Varon!"

_Crud! _Varon thought as he panicked. His frenzied stated caused him to go into another coughing fit.

Unless Jou thought of something quick, it was all over for the both of them. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere left to run. They were trapped. _This looks like the end! _Jou thought. _Somebody…help!_

End Chapter Three

Man, it took so long to finish this chapter! But it's finally finished. (God knows if anybody will actually review. If no one does, however, it certainly wouldn't surprise me.)

Anyway, until the next chapter. Ja ne!


	4. Breakaway

By Hikaru Hayashi

Hi there! I know! I have not updated in ages, huh? Gomen nasai! I couldn't help but notice how many reviews I've been getting for this one lately. I mean, when I first wrote this story, nobody read it. Then I decided out of the blue to update and now a lot of people are reading it! This is pretty amusing to me…heh, heh…

To Empress and anyone else wondering: I'm so sorry. If you had only read my profile, you would have known that I…**DESPISE YAOI WITH A PASSION**. Sorry! But if you want, you can keep reading (actually, I hope you keep reading! Please!)

With that, we'll begin.

Disclaimer note: I don't own yaoi. I won't write yaoi. So sorry! Oh, yeah, and I also do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 4: Breakaway

"No Help From Kaiba"

"_I know you're hiding in there, Katsuya Jounouchi! Come out now!"_

Jou trembled. He looked around for a way out. There was none. It looked like this was the end for both him and Varon. _Aw, crap…we're cornered…this is just perfect! _ He didn't even know why these guys were after them…and something was telling him that he didn't want to know. All he knew was that if he didn't think of something fast, they were goners.

"C'mon, Jono! Think…" he muttered to himself. "What would Yugi do if he were in this situation…?" He couldn't think of anything.

"Wh-what are we gonna do, Jounouchi?" Varon stammered.

"I'm tryin' ta figure that out!" Jou whispered loudly.

"You can't hide forever…" came Raphael's booming voice once again.

"Hurry up and think of something…!"

"I'm tryin'! Jeez, hold yer horses!"

"It's only a matter of time, you know."

"_Jounouchi!"_

"…!"

"Just give up, already!"

"Come on! Hurry up!"

"_BOTH A' YA, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AN' **SHADDAP**!" _ Jou shouted, frustrated, as he reached for a piece of a tree branch and chucked it a Raphael's head, knocking him out. "Argh! Dang…! I swear of all the nerve…"

"Uh, Jounouchi," Varon interrupted.

"WHADDYA WANT?"

"Um, you just knocked him out, maybe we should try to escape now…"

"Hm…?" Jou stared at Raphael, who was lying on the ground, apparently out cold. "Ah! Right! All part of my genius plan! Heh ha ha ha hah!" Jou chuckled as he sweat-dropped. Then he picked Varon up on his back. "C'mon, let's bail the heck outta here before he wakes up…"

Meanwhile, at the Kaiba Mansion… 

BAM. A loud noise startled Mokuba Kaiba as he was on his way to his brother's room. _Uh-oh…Nii-sama's angry again…_ he thought. His thoughts were confirmed as, less than a second later, a voice shouted:

"_Are you kidding me! You have absolutely got to be out of your mind if you think I'm going to help **that** loser!" _

Yep. That's Seto Kaiba for you. Mokuba was starting to wonder what made him mad this time, but the next voice that spoke answered his question:

"Please, Kaiba! We need your help! We've got to find Jounouchi!"

_Oh, it's Yugi Mutoh…I should have known…_ Mokuba thought. _What happened to Jounouchi? _

"I've helped you for the last time!" came Seto' voice again. "You can find that loser friend of yours on your own."

The door to Seto's room opened. Seto was standing right at the door as Yugi slunk out, looking depressed. "Now, get out of my house, Yugi! And I'd better not see you here again!" With this, he slammed the door.

"Thanks a lot, Kaiba…" Yugi muttered under his breath.

I told you he wasn't going to help us, Aibou…! 

_Shut up, Yami!_ Yugi growled back. _The last thing I need is your 'I told you so' speech._

"Hey, what happened to Jounouchi, Yugi?" Mokuba asked.

"Oh, Mokuba…" Yugi said. _Hmm…should I tell him? Mokuba might help us._

_He might…_Yami said back to him. _I guess it's worth a try. I highly doubt it, though…_

_Gosh, you're so pessimistic today, Yami! _Yugi was a bit frustrated with his alter ego, but told Mokuba about Jounouchi being missing.

At that very moment, in a remote forest in the mountains, miles from Domino City, our poor Jounouchi and Varon sat by a lake that happened to be blocking their way.

"It's very pretty," Varon said. "Could we stay here for tonight, Jounouchi? It's getting dark and I'm tired."

"Yeah? Well, those creeps might still be behind us," Jou said. "We gotta get away from them quickly." He took off his jacket and tied it around his waist. He wondered if this is what Yugi felt like wearing his uniform all day. "I hope you can swim, Varon!" Jou said. "'Cause it looks like our only way out is across the lake."

Varon looked up at Jounouchi. "HUH?" he muttered confusedly. He obviously wasn't paying attention. "Were you talking to me, Jounouchi?"

Jou fell over anime-style. "Good god, Varon! Were you even listening to me?"

Varon coughed, then replied, "Sorry…."

"Jeez, thanks a lot, Varon," Jou said in a fairly sarcastic tone. "C'mon, we gotta get across…"

"Wait, now?" Varon choked. "But, it's almost dark! And I can't swim."

"Gosh, man! Why didn't you answer me earlier, then?" Jou shouted as he fell over again.

"You shouldn't have been mumbling…" Varon said coldly.

"Well, excuse me, Mr. Horrible Accent…"

"_Hey!_ Your accent's worse than mine!"

"You've got a god-awful accent an' you know it!"

"Ya wanna run that by me again….?"

And so went their argument. As their argument dragged on, a huge muscular figure crept quietly into the bushes. "Heh, heh, heh…gotcha…" he chuckled. "You won't get away this time…! Heh ha hah!" He walked out of the bushes and snuck up on our poor unsuspecting protagonists.

"An' further more…! Eh…?" Jou stopped as he noticed the look of apparent fear on Varon's pale face. "Wuzzup, man?" he mumbled.

Varon, who was shivering from fear, pointed a shaky finger at a huge figure behind Jou.

"Somethin' behind me…?" Jou asked nervously. He turned around slowly. _God, please don't let it be Raphael…! _ he prayed. He turned and looked up at the huge figure now blocking his way.

"Hi," he said simply.

"_Aw, dang! It's him! We gotta book it!" _ Jou shouted as he grabbed Varon and headed for the dock. They jumped into a boat at the dock.

"Wait, so we're just gonna steal someone's boat, now?" Varon asked wide-eyed. The last thing he wanted to be called was a thief.

"Yep!" Jou replied as he was starting the motor. "Unless you'd rather swim."

Varon shook his head.

"Thought so…besides, this is the quickest way to lose that freak. We are far from being in trouble! He's never gonna catch up."

"Um…I don't think so, Jounouchi!" Varon said in a shaky voice.

"Hmm?" Jou turned his head. Raphael was on jet skis and catching up fast. He gulped nervously. "O-kay…**now** we're in trouble!"

End Chapter Four

Anyway, end of the chappy. Another thanks to all those who have been reviewing and please continue to review! I really appreciate the reviews!

I will try to update sooner (Keyword: "try"…). Ja ne!


	5. Speedboat Chase

By Hikaru Hayashi

First off, I would like to point out once again that I **despise any kind of rude remark.** I regard rude remarks as flames and I'll have you know that I don't take flames so well! If it wasn't clear before, I will make it painfully clear now: **No blinkin' flames. Any and all rude remarks will be regarded as flames and will be ignored. Thank you.**

Disclaimer note: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 5: Speedboat Chase

"_Oh no! What're we gonna do?"_

Jounouchi was officially panicked. He didn't know how much faster that speedboat could go, let alone if they could get away from Raphael, who was now on jet skis and catching up fast.

"What are you doing, Jounouchi?" Varon shouted. "Step on the gas!"

Varon was right…for once. Jou knew that if they planned to get away, he had to book it. "Awright, then! Fasten your seatbelt, Varon!" Jou said as he revved up the engine. "Time to put the pedal to the metal!"

Surprising to both of them, the boat sped off, soon leaving Raphael in a trail of splashing water. _"Woo-hoo! Eat our dust, Raphael!" _ Jou shouted. He hadn't had this much fun in quite a while.

"J-Jounouchi! Please! Slow down!" Varon whined, hardly able to hold on to the railing.

"What the hey? You were the one who said 'hurry up!'" Jou pointed out. "Why do you want me to slow down?" Jou looked in his rear view mirror. Raphael was still closing in on them. _Awright, he is officially getting on my nerves…let's see how fast this baby can really go…!_ He gave it more gas and the boat sped away, leaving Raphael in its wake and knocking him off of his jet skis. He resurfaced, not looking too happy.

"Arrrgh! Ptui! _I hate you, Jounouchi Katsuya!"_ he shouted angrily, slamming a fist on the water before climbing back up onto his jet skis.

"Woo! Yeah! This baby can go pretty fast!" Jou said, amazed at the speed of the little boat. "He'll never catch up to us now! Eat wake, loser!" He shouted to Raphael, who was starting up his jet skis.

_I'll show him…loud mouth wannabe thug…_ Raphael thought angrily his jet skis started up and he sped after the little speedboat.

"Um, Jounouchi?" Varon remarked, nervously. "He's still following us!"

"Eh…?" He didn't get the chance to turn around. Raphael was now riding right next to the speedboat.

"Hi," he said with an evil smirk.

_Oh, no you don't! I'm workin' too hard to get you off our case!_ Jounouchi thought. Panicked, but furious, he pulled right alongside Raphael.

"_Jounouchi! What the heck are you doing?"_ Varon shouted.

"I'm gonna ram this creep," he stated, fire in his eyes. "He's gettin' on my nerves…!"

"B-b-b-but, _Jounouchi!" _ Varon stammered.

Both vehicles speeding at close to 90, Jounouchi rammed into the side of Raphael's jet skis, hoping to knock him off.

It was close, but Raphael compiled himself and was able to stop himself from falling. _Oh, so **that's** how it is, eh? Well, two can play that game…! _ "Nice try, punk," he cackled. "Now, let me try!" He sped off to the side, then accelerated to a higher speed as he bumped into Jou and Varon's speedboat!

"I think he's trying the same thing…" Varon muttered, but dared not say anything, with Jounouchi being so angry. He was already sick, and he didn't want an angry Jounouchi biting his head off. _Yep…we're goners!_

Jounouchi rammed hard into the side of Raphael's jet skis, closer to knocking him off than he was last time. _Yes!_ he thought triumphantly. When he noticed Raphael speed off to the side, he was confused, until he heard Varon's raspy voice.

"_Jounouchi! Look forward! Watch out!"_

He looked forward. _No…!_ he thought as he noticed a downed log in his way. When Raphael came speeding back into the side of the boat, neither one of them had the room to speed out of the way. "Oh no! We're gonna crash!"

Raphael looked forward, seeing the little "road block" in their way. He knew that he couldn't clear the area in time to avoid crashing because they were at too high a speed.

"_Agh!" _ Jou and Varon screamed. Jou swerved, which didn't help. "Crud!"

Raphael just stared straight ahead, bewildered and angry. "Bummer…" he muttered.

The speedboat and jet skis crashed into the fallen branch, sending their riders flying through the air and landing a few feet away into the deep lake.

**(Meanwhile, in Domino City…)**

"_Katsuya! Look out!"_

The door to Shizuka's room slammed open. "Shizuka! Are you alright?"

Shizuka looked towards the door to see her mother and Honda Hiroto, who had decided to stay the night to make sure she wasn't too lonely.

"Mom! Honda! It was so scary!" Shizuka whined as her mother sat on the bed next to her and Honda pulled up a chair. "It was horrible! I dreamed that Katsuya and some other guy were in a speedboat and they were being chased by a scary man in dark sunglasses! And my brother was driving the speedboat and trying to ram into the guy that was chasing them, and then they all crashed into a log and went plunging into the lake!"

"Hey, there, calm down, now, Shizuka," her mother consoled.

"But, it was awful!" Shizuka moaned.

"It was just a dream," Honda reassured. "Besides, we all know that Jounouchi can't drive a speedboat!"

Shizuka stopped and thought. "I guess you're right," she said, now calmer.

"Now, go back to bed, Shizuka. Good night."

"Good night, Mom. Good night, Honda."

"Catch you in the morning, Shizuka!"

When the door to her bedroom was closed, and she was once again alone in the darkness of her room, she pulled the covers back. _It was only a dream…_ she thought to herself before drifting off to sleep.

However, little that Shizuka knew, her dream was very real…because at that very moment…up in the mountains, miles from Domino City…

"_Argh!"_ Jounouchi, Varon, and Raphael screamed as they went sailing through the air upon crashing into a fallen log. The three braced themselves for impact with the water as they plunged into the drink.

Raphael resurfaced, looking very annoyed. "Perfect. Those jet skis cost a lot of money, too…" he muttered angrily as he swam to shore. "Well, I guess I've accomplished my mission. Not the way I'd planned it, but oh, well…"

As Raphael was swimming away, Jou resurface. "Gurrgle! Ack! Come back here, ya joik!" He shouted at Raphael while waving a fist in the air. He was so far away that he probably couldn't hear him, anyway.

"Yo! Stop! I still needa knock the stuffing outta ya!" Jou shouted even louder. "Nnn…joik…whew! Awright, I think I'm okay now…" He started to swim away, when, suddenly, it hit him. _Wait a second…where's Varon?_

End Chapter Five

Heh heh…I know, I'm horrible. But anyway, enjoy this update. My updating time is going to be severely shortened because of **BAND CAMP**. So, if I don't update this for a while, you know why. Gomen nasai!

But, I will try to update soon (even if it's at 11:30 at night, which, most likely, it will be…). Ja ne!


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